BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 838 (Beall) - Sex offenses: juvenile hearings.
Amended: May 7, 2014 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 838 would do the following:
Enact a one-year sentence enhancement and impose additional
fines for persons convicted of a sex crime in which the
offender uses social media with the intent to harass or
humiliate the victim, or posts photographs online or shares
cellular telephone photographs pertaining to the incident.
Expand the list of criminal offenses subject to court
proceedings required to be open to the public to include sex
crimes involving an unconscious or disabled victim, as
specified.
Require the court to order mandatory out-of-home placement
for a minimum of two years to a juvenile hall, ranch, camp,
or other local facility where the minor shall receive sex
offender treatment, for wards who have committed specified
sex crimes in which the victim was prevented from resisting
due to being rendered unconscious or was incapable of giving
consent due to a disability, and that was known or
reasonably should have been known to the minor at the time
of the offense.
Prohibit eligibility for deferred entry of judgment (DEJ)
for minors charged with specified sex crimes in which the
victim was prevented from resisting due to being rendered
unconscious, as specified, or when the victim was at the
time incapable of giving consent due to a disability, and
that was known or reasonably should have been known to the
minor at the time of the offense.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 23, 2014):
Unknown, potential future increase in state prison costs
(General Fund) for the one-year sentence enhancement on
adult convictions for registerable felony sex offenses
meeting specified criteria.
Potential increase in court workload (General Fund*) to
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open additional court proceedings to the public, as well as
offsetting reduced workload for courts to consider DEJ
eligibility for fewer cases, as additional cases under the
bill's provisions would automatically be ineligible for DEJ
consideration.
Potentially significant increase in local agency costs
(Local/Federal) to the extent placements are made to
juvenile halls or camps/ranches that otherwise would have
been granted DEJ and sentenced to probation. The weighted
statewide average cost of a two-year minimum term in local
juvenile facilities is estimated in the range of $210,000 to
$260,000 per juvenile.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: This bill's introduction is the result of the death
of 15-year old Audrie Pott, a Saratoga High School student who
committed suicide in September 2012, after she was sexually
assaulted while unconscious and photographs of her were
electronically distributed.
Proceedings in the juvenile court generally are closed to the
public with an exception made for specified serious offenses
(listed in WIC � 676) which require the admission of the public,
unless the district attorney makes a motion for a closed
hearing, or during the victim's testimony if at the time of the
offense the victim was under 16 years of age. This bill would
expand the list of offenses subject to open juvenile court
proceedings.
Proposition 21 (2000) among other provisions, created a system
for deferred entry of judgment in juvenile court cases, that
provided upon successful completion of the terms of probation,
the positive recommendation of the probation department, and the
motion of the prosecuting attorney, the court would dismiss the
charge or charges against the minor. SB 1626 (Ashburn) Chapter
675/2006 eliminated eligibility for DEJ for minors charged with
specified sex offenses. This bill would add an additional
prohibition against eligibility for DEJ.
Proposed Law: This bill would provide that the act shall be
known as "Audrie's Law," as follows:
Provide that a person convicted or adjudicated to have
committed a sex offense listed in PC � 290(c) (registerable
felony sex offenses) who, with the intent to intimidate,
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harass, humiliate, or bully the victim, uses social media,
including, but not limited to, posting photos online or
sharing cellular telephone photos of the incident that
resulted in the conviction, or posting messages online or
sharing telephone messages pertaining to the incident
shall, in addition to any other punishment imposed for that
conviction, be punished by an additional term of
incarceration or additional fine, as follows:
o For a felony conviction, the offender shall be
punished by an additional consecutive year in prison,
or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.
o For a misdemeanor conviction, the offender
shall be punished by an additional fine not exceeding
$5,000.
Provide that juvenile court proceedings be open to the
public in cases involving an alleged sex crime committed
against a victim unable to resist due to being rendered
unconscious by an intoxicating, anesthetizing, or
controlled substance, or when the victim is at the time
incapable, because of a disability, of giving consent, as
specified.
Provide that minors adjudged wards of the court (WIC �
602) who have committed specified sex crimes in which the
victim was prevented from resisting due to being rendered
unconscious, as specified, or when the victim was at the
time incapable because of a disability of giving consent,
and that was known or reasonably should have been known to
the minor at the time of the offense, shall be ordered to
out-of-home placement for a minimum of two years to a
juvenile hall, ranch, camp, institution operated by CDCR,
DJF, or any other placement authorized by law, where the
minor shall receive treatment, including sex offender
treatment.
Prohibits eligibility for deferred entry of judgment for
minors charged with specified sex crimes in which the
victim was prevented from resisting due to being rendered
unconscious, as specified, or when the victim was at the
time incapable of giving consent, as specified, and that
was known or reasonably should have been known to the minor
at the time of the offense.
Staff Comments: By imposing a one-year sentence enhancement on
prison terms for registerable felony sex crimes that meet
specified criteria, the provisions of this measure could result
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in increased future state prison costs due to lengthier prison
sentences. While it is unknown how many offenders would meet the
specific provisions of this measure, to the extent an additional
two to five offenders receive the sentence enhancement in any
one year, annual costs would be in the range of $60,000 to
$155,000 (General Fund) based on the in-state contracted bed
space cost of $31,000 per year based on estimates reflected in
the 2014-15 Governor's Budget.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the CDCR to reduce the prison
population to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design
capacity by February 28, 2016. Although public safety
realignment has achieved significant reductions in the prison
population, and the 2014-15 Governor's Budget projects meeting
the population cap in the near-term, the analysis by the
Legislative Analyst's Office suggests that CDCR's long-term
prison caseload will likely exceed this cap. Because
California's institutions already exceed the population limit,
any near-term and future increases to the state's prison
population would likely require the state to pursue one of
several options including contracting-out for additional bed
space or releasing current inmates early onto parole.
This bill requires a court to impose mandatory out-of-home
placements for a minimum of two years to a juvenile hall, ranch,
camp, CDCR institution of Division of Juvenile Facilities (DJF),
or other authorized placement, where the minor shall receive sex
offender treatment, for wards who have committed specified sex
crimes in which the victim was prevented from resisting due to
being rendered unconscious or was incapable of giving consent
due to a disability, and that was known or reasonably should
have been known to the minor at the time of the offense.
Based on the Board of State and Community Corrections report
dated September 14, 2012, Average Daily Cost to House Youth in
Juvenile Halls and Camps/Ranches, the weighted statewide average
daily cost to house youth among juvenile halls was $352.06, and
the weighted statewide average daily cost to house youth in
camps/ranches was $288.11. The cost of a two-year minimum
sentence in a juvenile hall, ranch or camp based on these cost
assumptions would be in the range of $210,000 to $260,000. For
counties in which the average daily cost is much higher, such as
in Los Angeles County ($526.75), costs could be significantly
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higher.
While most commitments to the DJF have been realigned to the
counties, youth are still eligible for commitment to the DJF for
crimes listed in PC � 290.008, which include sex crimes
requiring sex offender registration (including rape, sodomy,
oral copulation, and sexual penetration). A two-year term in a
CDCR DJF facility would cost in excess of $500,000 (General
Fund).
The Judicial Council has indicated expanding the types of
juvenile court proceedings that must be open to the public will
not impose a significant cost burden on the courts.
Additionally, by expanding the list of prohibitions against
eligibility for DEJ, the courts could potentially experience a
reduction in workload that otherwise would have been incurred
while determining eligibility for DEJ for these cases that will
now automatically be ineligible under the bill's provisions.
This bill amends provisions of Proposition 21 (2000), involving
eligibility for DEJ as established under the initiative, and
thus requires a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature for
passage.
Recommended Amendments: To reduce potential state costs, the
author may wish to consider an amendment in Section 4 of the
bill to remove the CDCR, Division of Juvenile Facilities, as a
potential out-of-home placement option for the mandatory
two-year minimum placement.
Staff also recommends the following technical amendments to PC �
290.1:
(a) A person convicted of or adjudicated to have committed a
sex offense listed in subdivision (c) of Section 290 who, with
the intent to intimidate, harass, humiliate, or bully the
victim, uses social media, including, but not limited to,
posting photos photographs online or sharing cellular
telephone photos photographs of the incident that resulted in
the conviction or posting messages online or sharing cellular
telephone messages pertaining to the incident shall, in
addition to any other punishment imposed for that conviction,
be punished by an additional term of incarceration or
additional fine pursuant to subdivision (b).
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(b) (1) If the conviction for the offense listed in
subdivision (c) of Section 290 is for a felony, the offender
shall be punished by an additional consecutive year in prison,
or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or
by both imprisonment and that fine.
(2) If the conviction for the offense listed in subdivision
(c) of Section 290 is for a misdemeanor, the offender shall be
punished by an additional fine not exceeding five thousand
dollars ($5,000).
Author amendments do the following:
Remove the one-year sentence enhancement on
adjudications.
Delete the placement option for juveniles in the CDCR
Division of Juvenile Facilities, and instead provide for
placement in any institution operated by a county juvenile
probation department.
Make the technical changes in "Recommended Amendments"
noted above.